Baekhyun quickly discovered that there were hundreds, if not thousands, of small cemeteries around Seoul and the surrounding areas. It was easy to cross many of these off his list: if Woo Yewon and her child had died in 1834, the baby couldn’t possibly be buried in any of the newer cemeteries. Unfortunately, even with all the newer cemeteries taken off the list, there were still at least fifty where the baby could have been buried, if it had even been buried in a cemetery at all.

Thankfully he didn’t have to do all the research on his own. His friends were a great help to him, even if it meant they were slacking on their official duties around Westfield Estate. They spent their time contacting caretakers for the cemeteries, inquiring about any unmarked graves that might be there.

Baekhyun knew they were getting closer to solving the mystery of the Kim family curse. He could feel it in his bones.

He should’ve known that he wasn’t the only one.

He was at work one afternoon, pretending to be listening to a presentation from a potential client while he was really checking his phone for any news about the cemeteries, when the door to the conference room opened and Yifan stepped inside, looking grim.

Baekhyun knew something had happened even before his bodyguard spoke. “Mr. Kim,” Yifan said calmly. “I need you to come with me.”

With his heart pounding so hard he worried he was going to pass out, he gathered his things, apologized to his colleagues for having to leave, and stepped out into the corridor with Yifan.

“Who is it?” he said tersely as he shrugged into his heavy coat, fingers trembling as they tried to do up the buttons. “Who’s dead?”

“I think it’s best if we wait to discuss the matter in-” Yifan began, but Baekhyun cut him off sharply.

“Just tell me who it is, dammit!” he snapped.

Yifan looked taken aback, but he lowered his voice. “It’s Master Junho and Mrs. Siyoon.”

“Both of them?” Baekhyun exclaimed, allowing his bodyguards to lead him into the waiting limousine. “How? What happened?”

“Nothing has been confirmed yet, but it appears that it was a double suicide,” Yifan said grimly.

“They both committed suicide?” Baekhyun repeated incredulously. “Together? But that would mean…” He sighed heavily. “They were having an affair?”

Yifan coughed delicately. “It would seem that way, sir.”

“Good grief,” Baekhyun muttered. “The press is going to have a field day. And Jongin and Jongdae…And oh god…Minseok…”

As expected, the house was in a total uproar when Baekhyun arrived. The staff only stopped whispering to one another while Baekhyun passed, and then they were back to exchanging gossip as quickly as they could.

Baekhyun found what remained of his family in the formal sitting room. It hadn’t been used since Madame’s untimely death a few months ago, so the hearth was dark and the room chill.

Jongin and Jongdae sat on the couch together, both with red cheeks and damp eyes. Their father, Junhyung, was pacing the room behind the couch, his hands shoved deep in the pockets of his trousers. Minseok stood alone by the fireplace, staring at the wall, his face set stonily in anger. Junmyeon stood near the door, uncertainly wringing his hands.

Baekhyun cleared his throat and they all looked at him. “Thank you all for gathering like this,” he began.

Minseok made a guttural noise in his throat but otherwise didn’t argue.

Baekhyun swallowed past the lump in his throat. “Does anyone know what happened?”

“What happened?” Jongdae said angrily, getting to his feet. “What happened? Why don’t you ask that bastard?” He pointed a quivering finger at Minseok. “This is all his father’s fault!”

“If your mother wasn’t such a , none of this would have ever happened!” Minseok shouted back, even though he and Jongdae had always seemed on quite good terms.

Jongdae barked out a cruel, humorless laugh. “Your parents are the ones who know about committing suicide, aren’t they?”

It was only Junhyung and Jongin’s quick action that kept Minseok from leaping on Jongdae, fists flailing.

“Enough!” Baekhyun shouted, stepping between them. He very nearly got punched in the face by Minseok’s flailing fist, but thankfully Jongin caught his arm in time and Baekhyun was saved from a black eye. “This is nobody’s fault! Everyone just needs to calm down!”

“Calm down?” Jongdae spat at him. “Easy for you to say! You’re not the one whose mother just committed suicide!”

Baekhyun glared at him coolly. “Out of everyone here, Jongdae, you’re the only one who still has a parent. So I would think very carefully before you start throwing around stupid words.”

Jongdae glared back, huffing and puffing, but he didn’t say anything else.

Baekhyun took a deep breath. “Obviously this is a very troubling time. For all of us,” he added quickly, looking at Jongdae. “We all need to just calm down for a moment. We don’t even know for sure what happened.”

Junmyeon stepped over. “I do, actually,” he muttered. “I’ve just spoken with the coroner. It appears they drank poison together. It very much appears to be a suicide.”

“It doesn’t matter what happened,” Junhyung spoke up grimly, surprising Baekhyun. “The important thing is that the press doesn’t get wind of what happened. We need to ensure the staff doesn’t let anything slip.”

Jongdae looked at his father, aghast. “How can you say it doesn’t matter?” he demanded. “This is mother we’re talking about here!”

Junhyung turned away in disgust. “Don’t pretend that Siyoon was a good mother, Jongdae. Lying will only taint her memory. She was a terrible mother and an even worse wife. There is no reason to mourn such a useless person. What matters now is maintaining the Kim family’s legacy.”

Jongin finally spoke, barking out a harsh, hysterical laugh. “The Kim family legacy?” he repeated incredulously. “Look around, father. This ragtag bunch is all that’s left of our ‘legacy.’ And you know what, it’s pretty ing ty.” With that, he released his brother’s arm and stormed from the room.

Minseok followed right after, shouldering Jongdae out of his way as he went. Jongdae looked at his father uncertainly for a moment, clearly still teeming with anger, then he too left.

Junhyung looked at Baekhyun. “You may think me harsh, but this is the truth of things. You need to clean up this mess and keep it out of the press.”

Junmyeon waited until Junhyung was gone to speak again. “Junhyung has a valid point about the press, but I’m afraid it might be too late for that,” he muttered. “The staff has been gossiping like crazy ever since Junho and Siyoon’s bodies were found. I wouldn’t be surprised if every news outlet in the city is on their way here right now, looking for an exclusive story.”

And, unfortunately, Junmyeon was right. By the time Baekhyun returned downstairs, he could see several news vans outside the main gate, clamoring for entrance.

“Just what I need,” he muttered to himself. “Junmyeon, have them triple the security around the estate. The last thing we need is some reporter sneaking in. And we may as well schedule a press conference. Let’s try to control this as much as we can.”

The press conference was scheduled for the following afternoon in downtown Seoul, far away from the Kim estate. When Baekhyun arrived, it was crawling with reporters from television stations, radio shows, websites, and gossip magazines. He groaned. He very much did not want to do this.

“Are you ready, Mr. Kim?” Yifan asked him.

“Not really, but it’s not like I have much of a choice,” Baekhyun muttered.

Taking a deep breath, he stepped up to the podium with the microphone. Immediately, a hundred flash bulbs went off, temporarily blinding him. Reporters began shouting questions at him, some of them not very nice.

Baekhyun took a moment to blink the flashes out of his eyes. Then he took a deep breath and began, speaking over the shouts and yells. “As I’m sure many of you know, my family has recently suffered the loss of two family members. While I understand that you are all very interested in what happened, this is a period of mourning for the Kim family and I request that you allow us to deal with our grief in private. Thank you.”

Of course that wasn’t nearly enough for the bloodthirsty reporters. “Is it true that they committed suicide?” someone shouted.

“They were having an affair, right?” another yelled.

“Didn’t Madame Kim recently pass away as well?” someone else called out.

But Baekhyun was done. They had gotten all they would get out of him. He ducked his head in a brief farewell, then stepped away from the podium. He was relieved once he was back in his car, speeding back towards Westfield.

He dug his phone out of his pocket and dialed Junmyeon.

“I watched the press conference on television,” his cousin said when he answered. “You were short and to the point. Junhyung approves.”

“Yeah, I don’t really give a what Junhyung thinks at this point,” Baekhyun said wearily. “I think the curse knows that we’re getting close to figuring it out. I think it’s upping the ante, trying to kill us all off before we find the baby.”

Junmyeon hesitates. “You think we’re all in danger.”

“We’ve always been in danger, Junmyeon,” Baekhyun mutters. “I think it’s just happening a bit faster now.”

“So what do we do?”

Baekhyun grimaced. “We find that unmarked grave. Now.”